The present invention relates to a front vehicle-body structure of a vehicle, and in particular, relates to the front vehicle-body structure of the vehicle which comprises a connecting bracket connecting a cowl panel and a suspension tower.
Conventionally, a front vehicle-body structure of a vehicle comprising a cowl panel provided above a dash panel which partitions an engine room from a vehicle compartment and extends in a vehicle width direction and a suspension tower protruding toward an inside of the engine room and supporting a front suspension is known. Herein, there is a problem in that since a top of the suspension tower supports a damper device of a front suspension, an inclination angle of the suspension tower may be changed by a load which is generated in a vertical direction (i.e., a vertical load) during a vehicle traveling and this change of the suspension tower's inclination angle may have an influence on the maneuverability and stability of the vehicle. Accordingly, technologies to improve the rigidity of preventing the suspension tower from falling down have been proposed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H8-164874 discloses a front vehicle-body structure of a vehicle in which a brace (connecting bracket) is joined to a side edge portion of an upper wall of a wheel apron in a range from an upper face of a top of a suspension tower to an upper face of a top plate of a cowl box. According to this structure, the bending rigidity and the torsional rigidity of the wheel apron can be ensured, improving the rigidity against the suspension tower's falling down.
A gutter-shaped open cowl structure in which an opening portion which opens upward is formed by a cowl panel which supports a lower end portion of a windshield and a cowl member which is continuous to a front end portion of the cowl panel is known as one embodiment of a cowl structure. This open cowl structure has been recently applied to many vehicles because surroundings of the cowl panel can be used as an air box to guide conditioning air for a vehicle compartment.
The above-described front vehicle-body structure of the vehicle of the patent document can disperse a load which is inputted to the suspension tower from a vehicle wheel to the cowl box, thereby improving the support rigidity of the suspension tower relative to the vehicle body, so that the rigidity against the suspension tower's falling down can be ensured. However, there is a concern that while this front vehicle-body structure can restrain a longitudinal displacement of the top of the suspension tower, a vertical displacement of the top of the suspension tower may not be restrained sufficiently by this front vehicle-body structure as specifically described below.
First, since the upper face of the top of the suspension tower is pressed down by the connecting bracket joined to the upper face of the top plate of the cowl box and the upper wall of the wheel apron in this front vehicle-body structure, only a joint force of the brace to the top plate of the cowl box contributes to restraint of the vertical displacement of the top of the suspension tower, so that the rigidity of both the brace and the cowl member may not be utilized sufficiently for this vertical-displacement restraint. Secondly, since a joint portion to join the connecting bracket to the cowl panel needs to be provided newly in a case in which the open cowl structure is applied, there is a concern that the support rigidity of the joint portion for the cow panel may become insufficient. Thus, it has been required to restrain the vertical displacement of the top of the suspension tower.